


In this Together

by NextTrickAnvils



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: AU_gust 2020, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Gen, Warnings for some gross gorey imagery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:41:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25726831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NextTrickAnvils/pseuds/NextTrickAnvils
Summary: If she had to be blunt (and she often would be) Leonie wasn’t fond of Lorenz Hellman Gloucester. Not to say she outright hated him but his attitude just often rubbed her the wrong way.On the one hand, she somewhat understands where it comes from. Lorenz clearly came from a much more privileged pampered life and that lifestyle didn’t exactly lead to survival skills in the apocalypse.On the other hand, Leonie still didn’t like that Byleth for some goddess forsaken reason assigned her to basically babysit him. Didn’t know why she couldn’t send Claude or Ashe or ANYONE in the monastery who’s handled a gun before.
Relationships: Lorenz Hellman Gloucester & Leonie Pinelli
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	In this Together

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the AU_Gust writing challenge. Day 5 prompt: Post Apocalypse
> 
> I admit I usually avoid post-apocalypse/zombie stories because they usually just turn into tragedy porn. But for whatever reason, i just had this spark of an idea.
> 
> BTW while I took the name "Risen" from Awakening, these are more like your generic zombies. Sowwy. :<

They called them the Risen.

No one’s entirely sure where they came from or how they came to be.

Everyone has their own theories. Mad science gone awry, some kind of horrible ancient curse, a mix of the two…

Honestly Leonie couldn’t care less. What mattered now is that the world went to flames and there was no going back to normal.

Some people handled this better than others...

“Leonie, are you sure it is wise for us to be this far from the Monastery?”

“More and better game are further in the forest than near the Monastery.”

If she had to be blunt (and she often would be) Leonie wasn’t fond of Lorenz Hellman Gloucester. Not to say she outright hated him but his attitude just often rubbed her the wrong way.

On the one hand, she somewhat understands where it comes from. Lorenz clearly came from a much more privileged pampered life and that lifestyle didn’t exactly lead to survival skills in the apocalypse.

On the other hand, Leonie still didn’t like that Byleth for some goddess forsaken reason assigned her to basically babysit him. Didn’t know why she couldn’t send Claude or Ashe or ANYONE in the monastery who’s handled a gun before.

“Lorenz have you ever even gone hunting before all this mess?”

“...Once when I was a boy, my father took me with him on a hunting trip but for the record, it wasn’t like this.”

“What do you mean?”

“Instead of going into the wilderness, we just went to some land owned by a friend and shot at flightless birds who couldn’t possibly get away. I hated it and thankfully father never brought me along on those trips ever again. It just felt wrong to me.”

Leonie winced a little, “...Well you and I can agree on that.”

The two kept walking deeper and deeper into the woods, keeping their eyes out for game and/or Risen, occasionally chatting about this or that in the Monastery.

Leonie suddenly raises her hand and signals Lorenz to be quiet. She sneaks a little closer to an area surrounded by bushes and trees. She takes a spot behind one of the trees and peeks around the trunk.

“...Shit”

“What do you see?” Lorenz whispered

“A deer but a Risen already got to it.”

Lorenz quietly walked a little closer and immediately saw the gruesome sight of a dead deer on the ground, torn open as a Risen feasted on its insides. 

Leonie shot a quick glare at Lorenz who was looking more than a little pale, “Don’t throw up on me now. We have to sneak past that thing, I don’t wanna risk wasting bullets.”

“What about the deer?”

She shook her head, “Meat’s tainted now. Believe me, you don’t want to see what happens to someone who ate meat that was infected by a Risen.”

“Besides just becoming another one of them?”

“...Worse.”

Thankfully Lorenz didn’t push for details and so he and Leonie carefully walked as far from the Risen as possible. She couldn’t help but notice Lorenz occasionally looking back at the thing.

“Hey pay attention to where we’re going. We’ll know if it sees us.”

“That wasn’t exactly what I was thinking of. It’s just… it’s hard to think that that used to be someone...”

“I know it’s awful but we can’t see them as people anymore.”

“...Right...”

Before long, Leonie figured she and Lorenz were far enough away to start walking normally.

“Since we found a Risen, we’re going to have to settle with some smaller game. Last thing we need is getting into a chase while carrying a whole deer or boar.”

Risen weren’t exactly fast but it was still better not to be stuck with something heavy while outrunning them.

The two continued their search without as much talking as before, trying to keep themselves from attracting the wrong kind of attention.

Eventually they arrive at a clearing with a small group of pheasants wandering around. 

Perfect.

Leonie prepares herself to take aim at one of the birds until she notices Lorenz fumbling with his gun. Dammit she did not need this.

“Lorenz, what are you doing!?”

“Preparing to shoot a bird, what does it look like?”

She let out a deep annoyed sigh as she put away her gun and walked towards Lorenz. Before he could protest, Leonie grabs Lorenz and tries to rearrange his position.

“You’re going to screw up your arm AND your aim if you shoot like this.”

“I’ve handled a gun before, Leonie.”

“Yeah, sure.” Leonie remarked sarcastically

Despite his grumbling, Lorenz still accepted Leonie’s help with his stance.

“Okay, pull the trigger.”

Lorenz does so and one of the pheasants immediately goes down while the rest flew off the ground and fled.

“Good job, you managed to get us some dinner.”

Lorenz didn’t look quite as proud as Leonie and it took her a moment to remember his story about his father’s hunting trip.

“Oh… uh...”

“It’s fine. As unpleasant as it is, this is what we have to do to survive. This… this isn’t for…  _ sport _ like what my father did.” Lorenz assured her

Leonie couldn’t help but notice the slight venom he put on the word “sport” and honestly she couldn’t blame him. Maybe it was just because of how she was raised but she found the idea of hunting as a sport or hobby to be wasteful. It was one thing to hunt for skins and meat so your family can be clothed and fed, it was another to hunt just so you can brag about killing something.

“Should we go after the rest?” asked Lorenz

“No. That’s a waste of time and bullets. Let’s grab what we got and if we’re lucky maybe we’ll find more on the way back.”

Leonie grabs the pheasant and carries it over her shoulder. With that, she and Lorenz make their way out of the forest.

For most of the walk back, there were no problems. The Risen they found earlier seemed to have wandered off so that saved them some effort in sneaking around.

Leonie couldn’t help but get a little lost in her head as they continued walking.

She still couldn’t understand why Byleth paired her with Lorenz. He clearly needed more training to handle a gun and while he wasn’t quite the pain in the ass with no survival skills she entirely expected him to be, she still felt like she wasn’t given a partner but an escor-

Leonie shouted as she lost her footing and ended up rolling down a small hill. Rocks and twigs dug into her skin as she fell further down, she could feel more than a couple bruises forming by the time she finally reached the bottom. 

“LEONIE!”

She winced as she tried to push herself back up and let out a pained shout as she tried to stand. Shit it feels like her ankle got messed up.

“Leonie, hang on!”

Great.

She sighed as she arranged herself into a sitting position. As soon as that was done, she looked around the area. Her bag, her gun, and the pheasant were a little too far for her to just reach. Doesn’t that just figure?

_ “Uuugghhhhhh...” _

Shit… shitshitshitshitshit…

Leonie turned her head to the sound and just as she feared, a Risen spotted her. In a panic, she forced herself to stand up, hissing in pain as her ankle injury flared up.

Despite the injury and the pain, Leonie attempted to limp to where her gun had fallen but the Risen was catching up.

But soon enough, the pain was too much and Leonie once again fell to the ground. 

This was not going to be how she dies, dammit!

She gathers her strength to crawl towards the gun as the Risen gets closer and closer. Leonie can practically hear it right above her as she just barely reaches the gun. But soon as she grabs it, a shot rings out and the Risen’s groan turns into a death gurgle.

Leonie sees it collapse onto the ground and turns to find Lorenz with a smoking gun, looking ready to vomit.

“Are- are you alright, Leonie?”

“Y-yeah… yeah I am. But I twisted my ankle or something in the fall down here.”

Lorenz swallows whatever bile he was ready to throw up and rushes to Leonie’s side. He opens his bag and pulls out a bunch of first aid supplies. To her surprise, Lorenz wasn’t just haphazardly wrapping bandages on her injuries, he seemed to know what he was doing.

As if sensing her confusion, Lorenz spoke up.

“My mother… she encouraged me to learn multiple skills such as first aid. She considered it a way for me to learn to take my own path in life rather than just following my father.”

“...Was she...”

“No. She passed away when I was in high school.”

...So this was why Byleth assigned them together. She just wanted to make sure that Leonie would be okay in case of an emergency.

Well doesn’t she just feel like an asshole right now?

Once everything was set, Lorenz gathered the rest of their supplies (including the pheasant which was thankfully untouched by the Risen) and lifted up Leonie into a bridal carry.

“HEY!”

“Your ankle is in bad shape, the worst thing you could do is walk and put pressure on it.”

“...Yeah you’re right but I can at least carry something!”

With some difficulty, Lorenz handed Leonie her bag and the pheasant.

“Alright, we should be alright from here. Let us head out.”

The two remained quiet as they finally got out of the woods and the Monastery was within view.

But then Lorenz suddenly spoke up, “That… that was the first time I had killed a Risen.”

“Really? I mean I guess since I had to help you with handling your gun with the birds...”

“I told you that I had handled a gun before… I just never fired it.”

Leonie could tell there was a story there.

“What happened? I-if it’s not too hard for you to say-”

“No it’s alright. I’m sure you already know I came from a wealthy family. My father… he presented himself to the world as this generous philanthropist, someone who wanted the best for everybody. He even planned to run for public office on a platform of “A Better Tomorrow.” Though those were merely just platitudes honestly. Then the Risen came.”

“Let me guess. That was when he showed his true colors?”

Lorenz just nodded, it was after all a story that both of them had heard over and over again.

“Our manor was one of the largest properties in the city so of course many average people came to our gates, begging for shelter and my father shut them off, only ever letting in some of his closest confidants.”

“And then everything went to flames right?”

“He let in someone who we didn’t realize was hiding a bite mark. We didn’t figure it out until it was too late and too many were killed or bitten. My father and I attempted to escape. Looking back on it now, I suppose I shouldn’t be so surprised how nonchalant father was about killing servants and old friends. I was given a gun as well but all I could see were either familiar faces or were still human enough. Despite father’s scolding and berating me, I couldn’t fire a shot.”

Leonie bit her lip, she certainly knew that feeling, recalling how nauseous she felt when she was forced to shoot a neighbor before he attacked his own child.

“So what happened to your dad?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure. We managed to get out of the manor but at some point after, he fled and left me behind. If Byleth hadn’t found me and welcomed me into her group, I likely would not have made it.”

“...Sorry...”

“It’s alright, I’ve long made peace with knowing what kind of man my father truly was.”

“No I mean… I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting. I guess I kind of forgot that not everyone’s adjusting to this new normal that well. And forgetting that we all suffered and that’s why we’re all supposed to be in this together. I promise I’ll do better. For a better tomorrow, a REAL one not just the bullshit that your dad was spouting.”

“...As will I. For a true better tomorrow” Lorenz said with a small smile


End file.
